An off-duty Escondido Police Department employee hit and seriously injured a pedestrian in Escondido Friday night, hospitalizing the victim.
Escondido police received reports at 9:43 p.m. Friday of a man bleeding in the middle of the street at the intersection of North Escondido Boulevard and West Lincoln Avenue, according to the agency.
At the scene, officers determined that the driver had hit the pedestrian, a 31-year-old man living in Escondido, who was then driven to Palomar Medical Center with major injuries.
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Escondido police said the driver is "a non-sworn civilian employee" of the Escondido Police Department. The employee stayed at the scene was neither driving a city vehicle, nor working at the time.
"It is yet to be determined to what extent alcohol may have been a factor," Escondido police wrote in a news release.
In the interest of transparency, the news release states, Escondido Police Chief Varso has requested that California Highway Patrol (Border Division) take over investigating the incident. All documents and evidence related to the case will be turned over to the CHP investigator(s) assigned to the case, police wrote.
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to call CHP Oceanside Area Office at 760-643-3400.
